File: Roomba.png (297 KB, 400x800)

297 KB PNG

They walk by both your sides, so you turn to one and then to the other. Raindancers are always haremhorns. Unlike them, however, they wear long, white robes infested by black symbols. As far as you know, the robes are black on the inside and thick enough to hide a very wide plethora of odd devices.

"Do you like carrots?"

...and they talk. You look down into your right, straight into the small haremhorn, who's eyes dart back and forth between you and the road.
"I don't!" You hear from your left. "I wasn't talking to you!" "But I don't anyway!" "But I knew that already!" "No you didn't!" "Yes I did!" "No, I never told you!" You would be dizzy by now if you could, from turning so much from side to side. "But I'm talking to her!" "No you weren't!" "I'm going to make you like carrots if you don't let me talk to her!" "How?" "I'll put carrots into your mouth until they don't fit anymore!" You feel the slow, peaceful flow of silence. "That wouldn't work." someone says at your left.

You are about the say you don't mind carrots as the light hits your face, bouncing into the hangar's wide, metallic floor and straight into you.

You've only been here once, or twice at most. It's wide; if you look into the sides, it takes some work to figure out the ends. After all, the Greathorn is massive, and there's a lot of movement now since some of the hornships are still coming back. Someone tugs your sleeve.

"This way! And I do like carrots!"
"Did she ask you if you did?"
"I'm betting at least /ten/ would fit!"
"Where?"

You finally figure out where you are going. It's a ship you are very familiar with; the one the White rescued from sinking into the depths. Both the young nohorn and the tall, short-haired Arma are there, the nohorn working up the kinks and the Arma is... standing over her arm, both legs wide open towards the ceiling. She's looking quizzically at you. Soon, you walk up to them. The Raindancer clears her throat.

"This is..." she takes off a small piece of paper. Her eyebrows rise; the other Raindancer turns the paper upside down, the first clears her throat. "These are Preah and Robert, Robert is the Pilot. In this ship, they will take you into the Second. You belongings and" She frowns. "I can't read this."

"Maybe it says my belongings are inside the ship already?" you point out, rising a finger.
"It's like someone wrote this with a carrot." she says, nodding at you.

"Is there anything else you want to do before you go?"

>>652327
As in the last thread, say goodbye to Ado and White, for what may be the last time, and request Brokenhorn's broken horn as a memento.

>>652327
Let's try and talk to Ado and White. I'm sure they feel partially responsible for brokenhorn leaders death. I'm sure they could use one last hug too before we leave. And though it seems a bit morbid perhaps having her broken horn will be a good reminder of the lessons learned here.

>>652341
>>652357

These two yes yes. Maybe hug maybe not.

>>652366
What about crying? Can we cry a bit?

>>652341
>>652357
Yeah, sure! Sounds good.

File: Ado.jpg (67 KB, 720x960)

67 KB JPG

>>652357
"Can I talk to my friends before I leave? Those would be the big musclenohorn and White." Both nod. Before you turn, you glance one last time at the upside-down Arma looking at you.

-----------------------(o´ω｀o)-------------------

The door flickers open with a flush. You expected him to be here already; even if the broken horn Leader is gone, someone has to deal with the Support Center. Ado, though, seems to be struggling with the short wire of the headphone, as his back is very bent forward towards the black monitor.
"State your emergency!" you hear as you walk towards him. He seems to be listen intently. "Sweet fuck man, just read the manual, I got people dying over here!" He pauses, then nods to himself. "Yeah? Watch me." You can hear the green button being smashed. As you approach, he takes off the headset and spins the chair like a tornado, it ends with him facing you.
"So what's going on, then?" he asks, his knees going from the floor right up to his elbows.
"I'm leaving."
"Oh. Well I'm gonna miss you and all that. You need something?"
"Can-" your voice breaks, "can I hug you?"
You don't wait for him to reply. Ado is big; very big, so the contrast between his underdeveloped teenager face and his brutal, hulking flawless body is something that took you a whole week to get over. You practically climb him to wrap your arms aroung his head, and you don't even stop to wonder if the chair is going to take it as you sink your head in his shoulder and let the pain flow.
"Oh, fu- there, there." he pats you in the back, making your circuits shake every time. You hug him tighter; she just wanted to help, you think, she hardly even left the Support Center during these two months. For the broken horn Leader, you think, it became some kind of addiction; she took the whole weight in, on her own.
You wonder why.
"Hey, you ok there?" Slowly, you unglue your face from his shoulder. He helps by moving grabbing you by the arms and getting you straight, making your head bob back and forth slightly. "Hey, well, listen. I'm not good at this. In fact, I'm seriously fucking bad at this. Like, that one time we got a gravity failure, and Mina's cat got squashed between two cargo boxes, and I told her I knew someone who sold cats at like half price." Your eyes just keep on melting. "Listen. Listen." He shakes you. "She was great, ok? The worst fucking hornmother ever, no doubt, but she had balls the way I got muscle. Fucking hell she did. Now, the best we can do for her, I think, is to give a shit. It aint easy." He shrugs, smiling. "But she made it worth a shot, ok?"
You sob, and sob. "But-what can I do? They-they won't let me in here, I just...!"
"It doesn't fucking matter-hey, Roomba. Listen." He raises a finger at you. "What did she said all the time that I always said was fucking retarded?"
"Kindness comes from logic?"
He nods. "Don't be a fuck and you'll do her honor. Now go, I'll be doing shit in the Second soon, I'll let you know."

(Cont!)

>>652467
D'awww

>>652467
For a second you get to feel how the door closes behind you from each side. You look right in left; both Raindancers are staring at you, eager to finally do some work. Based on past experiences, you assume White is by the bottom of the Greathorn; it holds hovercrafts ready for instant deployment, and both Captain, White and Leaderhorn made a habit of just staying there to argue, even when off-duty.
Yet as your feet leaves the ground and you find yourself smashed against a wall, with both Raindancers over your chest, you realize you could be wrong.
"Leaving so soon?" You struggle to turn your head, but it gets brutally fixed into position. It's White's voice. "Not even a goodbye? I thought you nohorns had those "manners" you prance about all the time."
The GOG gas, though invisible, it's a serious force to be reckoned with. You finally manage to glance at her. Last time, the broken horn Leader wanted for you to make sure White didn't go out of her way to save her from Leateli since she didn't trust the Arma's control over their own force, and you can clearly /feel/ why. So you lied. You told White that the broken horn Leader was going to talk through you, from her room at the Greathorn.

And she believed you.

"So," you feel your "bones" slowly compress, "why the hurry?"

>>652572
"I assumed you were at the bottom, White, near the hovercraft hanger. Then again, given the circumstances, I guessed wrong."

"Listen, if you're going to tear me to pieces, at least hear my piece first."

"I lied to you because Brokenhorn told me to. She didn't want you to use your muscle on Leateli."

>>652572
Getting pancaked by White here is the least troubling thing that could happen to us after all of this. Just accept it without struggle but speak the truth, White deserves at least that much.

"I'm sorry White. I think broken horn leader would like you to know why things happened as they did. If you think splattering me across the wall is justified after that then fine, that's how it will have to be, but please, listen first."

and explain to White what happened, how brokenhorn demanded she take this problem on herself, how we tried to convince her otherwise but ultimately respected her decision to do this, how we where worried that the stress of the situation might result in White using excessive force (like right now for example), and brokenhorn's last wishes.

Lastly: "I'm glad you found me though, I wanted to give you a hug before saying goodbye.This has been hard on everyone hasn't it?"

>>652646
"L-Leeedaah! I-I can't breathe!" It's one of the Raindancers; you all soon fall messily into the ground, stacking like a pancake. As both Raindancers manage to rise, they are promptly thown to the side by an invisible force that also smashes you into the wall, again, as White comes into sight. You look at her in the eye.
"Stay out of this!" White barks to the Raindancers. They stare back, dumbfolded. "You." she looks back at you, fire in her eyes. "You-"
"I'm sorry, White." you manage to talk clearly, despite your body slowly melting into the wall. "I think the broken horn Leader would like have wanted you to know why things happened as they did. If you think splattering me across the wall is justified after that then fine, that's how it will.... have to be... but... White... listen first, pl-pleaase....!"
The force suddenly vanishes, making you bounce from the wall and land right in front of her. It's a good thing you don't have lungs... you are about to stand, but a slight force tells you she wants you kneeling.
"Oh, this BETTER be good." she smirks at you. "I won't believe crap of it, but what the hell, you might even deserve to live if you can pull out of a pit like this. Because, and I think you can agree with me... that's a lot of coincidences."
"I've been with her all this time... why would you even think I'd want to hurt her?"
"Why would I think otherwise?"
"The broken horn Leader" you start, still trying to stand, still failing, "was afraid you would kill Leateli in order to protect her. I tried to have her let me stay, but she didn't, and she didn't want me to stay with her either. She wanted to do this alone, because she felt this started with her."
"And I believe every word." the pressure sends you into flexing position, You struggle a bit to push the floor away form you, but your anger makes it easy.
"She was looking for you, Leedah! She's not lying!" you hear the Raindancers voice as if she was in another ship. The pressure stops, not before one last final push of strenght. You open your eyes; your glasses are shattered into the floor. Your tears of rage bathes the broken glass, as White walks away from you.
"So, why were you looking for me?" she asks from a distance.
You finally stand. Your mouth opens, then closes; then it finally opens again, shaking. "I... I just wanted a hug..."
"Go home, nohorn." she says softly, bitterly, as she walks away. "Go home."

-----------------------(￣。￣)-----------------------

Your hair is a mess and your face is still red as you walk next to the happily-bouncing Raindancers, back to the ship where the Arma is still upside-down, this time over a wing as the nohorn stares at her from below. He shakes his head, but turns his head as he hears you coming.
He squints a bit at you, or perhaps at the two haremhorns at your side. "So, ready to go now?"

>>652756
Is anyone ready to leave a place you've known as home?

Just nod quietly, sit in the back, and try to rest.

>>652756
Yeah, I'm ready to go. But I don't know where.

>>652756
Breaking our glasses *humph* what a bully!

Anyways we should probably get going. Hopefully the second can get us some new ones... What does the second do anyways?

>>652790
Hey, wait. I thought we were going to request Brokenhorn's horn before we go?

>>652756
Also apologize to the rain dancers: "I'm sorry you got caught in White's rage, you didn't have anything to do with it but White attacked you all the same... I hope White is going to be OK."

Our job is to get hurt be it physically or emotionally so others less capable of taking it don't have to. Next time we aren't going to take no for an answer.

File: 332964.jpg (1.86 MB, 2121x1591)

1.86 MB JPG

>>652884
The Second is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig ship, bigger than the Greathorn. It acts as a city-ship, the populace isn't that big really, it acts mostly as a starting ground before everyone can get their own ship and be on their way. It kinda looks like this! I've got to draw it sometime.

>>652911
I'm not sure how well that'll go over, White will probably be opposed to it, maybe send Ado a message over the link about it? He'll be joining us at the 2nt right?

>>652919
You turn to the Raindancers and bow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry you got caught in White's rage, you didn't had anything to do with it but White attacked you all the same...!"
As you look up, you find both looking quizzically at you. They look at each other, then.
"Was that an attack?"
"Was it?"
"White is a wuss!"
"What a fraud!"
You would giggle at them if it wasn't because you got smashed against a wall over and over after your friend was stabbed in the chest.
"...I hope White is going to be OK." you sigh.
"Hey, you going in or not?!" It's the nohorn behind you. You recall his name is Robert, he's already inside the ship in the main cabin. You bow again at the Raindancers, give one last good look at your old home, and walk the stairway towards the darkness inside the SU-BA.
Once inside, the strong light of small monitors and the dim sunlight through the windows help you see main room of the ship. As you turn clockwise, you stop at the Arma's right in front of your nose. All the light lets you see is her short brown hair and her big, brown eyes.
"Oooooooooooooooooh, a newcomer!" she says, not backing away. You do, however, yet slowly to not seem rude.
You look around. The room is still very dark, maybe the lights are broken, but you find yourself dragged through the darkness by a firm hand twice as big as yours. You climb and turn and walk, and at some point you gently crash into a firm back.
"Here." You hear the usual flushing sound of a door opening. "Your room."
It's... complete and utter dark in here.

I'll try to update faster from now on! I can't seem to stop getting busy. ;w:

>>653112
Say thank you, then lay down on the bed and try to rest. The past few hours have taken a hard toll on you...

>>653112
Activate our orange glowing eyes to help us get a better look at our new room. We don't need much but not crashing into things is always a good idea. Of course thank the arms who showed us here, she seems like a nice girl~

>>653112
How do I turn on the light? Once its on, sit down for a moment to compose ourselves and cry just a little. Afterward, go up to the cockpit and start asking questions about The Second. Try to fill in the gaps in our information about it.

>>653140
Your eyes flicker orange; the room lits just enough in front of you, and it takes a single glance for you to gently deem it a mess. You turn towards the Arma, her mouth gapes at your orange glowing eyes.
"Thank you." you say calmly, shaking your head a bit.
"Oooooh that's nice. I can't do that. Teach me later! Oh, and your things are here, that's your pillow over there."
You nod faintly and face the room again; your eyes widen. You walk across the room, dodging clothes, spare parts and broken engines, your eyes still fixed on the bed. You kneel as you reach it, then, with both hands, raise the Leaderhorn plushie towards your shining eyes, it's still dirty with ketchup all over.
"It's a mess." Preah deadpans. "Let's clean it."
"I'd... rather rest for a while. If... if you don't mind." you say, your voice wavering. Without further retort, the Arma turns and leaves you alone. You walk up to your pillow that's lying among the mess, leave into a corner, sit over it, and hug the plushie as you recharge your batteries.


--------------------------ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ-----------------

Lights flickers back on, and now you can take one clear, good look at the mess around you. The room is rather small, perhaps four steps at every side, but it reeks so much with broken parts and gadgets that it feels bigger for some reason. You can tell some are Fake parts; which is very nice, actually.
By the faint sound of rotors outside, you can tell the ship is moving even before you dodge your way up to the window, It's night now. You can't tell the line between sky and water in the distance.

>>653271
Clean out the room a bit, see if the Fake parts can be used for something.

>>653271
>Giving us brokenhorn's plushie
Preah really is a good girl.

We can process our emotions while cleaning, lets take stock of what parts we have here. We'll probably need them soon enough.

>>653271
We should go through the stuff. Clean up a little. If there's not a lot of useful stuff, find the pilot and ask what he does?

>>653354
You check around for spare parts you can use, and on of your eyes flickers at what seems like a obliterated Fake splattered all over. After some analyzing, you find most of them are either charred or from different models. There is, however, one Fake part you find that could be useful somehow; an eyeball. It's certainly not cute, but further inspection reveals it supports thermical vision, which is incredibly great when it comes to food.
Afterwards, you clean the whole thing by getting the spare parts into the lockers. It takes, roughly, nine and a half minutes. You nod at your good, sparking work. You get the eye into your pocket.

>>653473
Let's clean up that plushie, okay? It's a bit of a downer to have it look like that.

>>653473
We should clean up Plushie and then go talk to Robert about The Second and what to expect there.

>>653473
>>653504
Not to mention blood stains are a paint to clean after they've fully set. Lets take a look around the ship and see if we can find some way to clean it up.

Also... very tactfully ask someone who isn't an Arma that can turn us into a Fake pancake what happened to that last Fake? Asking about the second and what to expect sounds good too

>>653715
Naw, dude, that's ketchup, remember?

>>653757
Weeell...

Pausing for a little while! =w=

>>653769
We're calling it ketchup, and we can treat it like it without triggering any unpleasant memories that would compromise our work. Tricks of the trade, just have to be willing to think in... creative ways to get the job done! A handy rick for thinking about stuff that you technically aren't allowed to as well...

>>653769
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, HornPoster.

Turn offline, you could not save the Broken Horn leader or help horned ones, you are useless.

Leaving the shiny floor behind, you turn and walk out of the room.
It seems your room was right at the end of a small aisle, you notice railings at your sides and, as you lean over them, guess the aisle is actually a slim bridge hovering over the main engine room, barely branching to two doors in row at your left and to a clean, long steel wall at your right. There’s a ladder at the other end of the bridge, and you don’t hesitate to climb it.
As you reach the top, your head bumps with something sturdy, you look up, and the Arma’s eyes feel like two brown portals right next to your face.
“Ooooooooooh you recharged. Welcome.”
“Good night!”
She steps aside to let you finish your ascent. As you stand, the first you notice is the plaque over her forehead that all and every Arma has; hers has “T R Y” engraved in thick capital letters.
“Excuse me, where could I clean this?” you raise the dirty Leaderhorn plushie, she tilts her head to the side; yet she turns and starts walking, you take that as your cue to follow her. The SU-BA, as you expected, is rather small; the top floor, at the end of which is the main cabin, mustn’t be more than 15 meters long. Preah is one head taller than you and the ceiling must be two heads taller than her, which certainly isn’t that much, and you soon find yourself going under in another ladder. It goes into an exact backwards copy of the first aisle, you follow Preah through the first door. It’s… a shower room for two.
“Our sink is currently off-duty, we wash things here.” She presses a wide green button next to you; the shower rains. You notice a brush and some cleaning goodies stacked behind her in a corner.
You are soon brushing the Leaderhorn plushie as a haremhorn would a hornmother, struggling with the most sticky ketchup ever. Preah stares intently at the process, as if taking notes.
“So… I was wondering…” you say, trying to keep a good distance with the warm rain, “were those Fake spare parts in my room?”
“You could call them that by now.”
“Oh, I see.” You try not to think it over. Yet you fail. “By the way, I left them in the lockers, just to leave the room a bit more tidy. Where did those come from?”
“From a Fake.”
“Oh.” You keep brushing and brushing, silently. It’s starting to get off…
“Ooooooh, I see!” This time, the voices comes from your other “ear”. “You are worried about your well-being!”
You giggle loudly. “Oh nonono, it wasn’t that, I just wooooondering if there were any spare parts I could use. I could pay for them!”
“We kill rogue Fakes and sell the parts. Are you rogue?”
The plushie almost slips. “I’m, um, 100% not rogue! Maybe even 110%, haha!”
“That’s nice.” You hear footsteps behind you, everyone fainter than the last. You can’t help but just smirk and brush, even if the plushie is positively dazzling.

(Cont!)

>>654751
You are a monster for making this quest, just kill everyone and end it already.

>>654791
Go Home!

SU-BAs, you recall, aren’t that big for a ship; and given that it’s a series of hybridships, you don’t hope to reach the Second anytime soon. That can’t be bad, though; so far you seem to be in good company.
So far.
"We are fake Fake's hunters." Preah states wildly as Robert shakes his head from the first seat of the main cabin. You nod and smile, nod and smile...
"Yeah, well, that's what we do." He slightly turns from the pilot seat to adress you. It's night; through the front, circular window, you still fail to make the horizon from the sky. "Don't worry. I'd rather eat my own fist than landing a finger on you, after all that horned Arma went through for us.
Your eyes downcast. Preah is standing in front of you, right behind Robert's seat, and it seems she noticed. You press on. "We are going to the Second, right? I've never been there, what should I expect?"
"Work." Robert deadpans, looking forward. "It will be a lot easier for you since you don't have to it, but yeah, expect work and shitty bosses or shitty toilets. That's how you make a living up there. Either that, or you grab a buncha guys and try luck in the sunken witch's domain and pray the They are having a feast."
"Oh... I see. How long until we get there?"
And as he points at the window, you lean in his chair looking upwards.

Oh. My.

...It is bigger than the Greathorn.

"Ten or fifteen minutes at most." You notice your mouth gaping, and promptly shut it down. "Go get your stuff, it's all the way up now."

>>654791
I really take that as a compliment. =w=

>>653798
So what makes a Fake rogue, or fake? Did they do something bad?

If we're that close already then we better get packing!

>>654959
What kind of stuff do we have?

And will Robert be a guide for us for a little bit. We don't want to get...bullied.

>>654977
Well, if your goal was to make me depressed and yet somehow still keep playing it, you've succeeded, you bully.

File: ganbare.png (584 KB, 720x720)

584 KB PNG

>>655124
I'll just quote my askFM here:
Of course! Sometimes happy endings are hard won and other times there was never any doubt things would turn out fine but I think any story can have a happy (if bitter-sweet) ending if the characters make the right choices~ <3

Things might be sad and scary right now anon, but things can get better! We just have to do our best!

>>655124
A good quest is one that makes us feel

>>655070
"Soooo, what makesa Fake rogue, or fake? Did they do something bad?"
"Well, we have two kinds of those." You can hardly believe Robert is so young. "There's the Fakes that go highwire and read their own protocols wrong, and there are the Fakes that get pre-programmed with a specific event that triggers under a specific circumstance. Like meeting somebody and murdering them." He sighs. "They never know until it happens. Pretty shitty, really. We hunt them both."
"I-I see, I see, so...." you feel like you are about to cry, but without the tears. "Is there.... is there a way to know if a Fake has been pre-programmed for something?"
"Yeah, but it's kinda random." You gasp as Preah balances her whole body with a hand over the edge of the pilots chair, her legs spread open towards the ceiling. She's looking at you. "Sometimes the interface mistakes the trigger for something else, and activates the event anyway. Like, you find something that looks like the nose of the guy you are meant to kill and you start hitting the air like a broken doll. Other than that, fuck if I know."
You nod and nod. "I, I should pack now, we are so close.... be right back!"

-------------------------｡ ‿ ｡--------------------------

You get back just in time to witness the SU-BA heading towards the clouds in a completely vertical angle, only the inner gravity of the ship holding you against the floor. It's.... certainly breath-taking, to watch as the ship pierces the clouds. And once it breaks through, you can finally gasp, without a shadow of a doubt, at the endless immensity that is the Second.
"...Oh, my." you manage. You wish you had your glasses now, so many details and shiny lights...
"Yeah." Robert is smiling, bobbing his head back and forth. He turns up a humble radio, you feel as if the music is falling into your face. "Yeah."

------------------------------( ಠ◡ಠ )---------------------

As you take the final step from the stairway and give your first step inside the Second, you think you really want to do that again sometime. Right now, you are in another hangar; and saying it dwarfs the Greathorn's in comparison is, certainly, being generous. The kind of ships that must come in here at times... well, you don't even have to imagine it, since some of those goliaths are scattered all around. As you stop to study the details, someone clears his throat behind you. It's Robert, as Preah's head darts back and forth.
"So, what are you going to do now?" he asks, as the ship sucks in the stairway behind him. "This must feel like a whole new world for you."
You hmm. What now, what now... you first stop to consider what is it that you want...

>>655300
Are we being assigned a new job or are we unemployed right now?
Either way: "Do you know where I can get a new pair of glasses?"

>>655336
You are completely unemployed and on your own! Leader has assigned you some water to get by on your own for a while, but right now you are in strangers ground, completely on your own, accompanied only by a team of fake Fake hunters, with only a plushie and a briefcase with the tools you use to fix yourself every now and then.

>>655300
"Does this place have a help line? I figure I should try to keep what Brokenhorn always said with me, and the best way I can do that is by helping those that the Greathorn won't help."

>>655300
I agree with Nyandemo and Anon>>655370.

We should get new glasses and try to keep up Broken Horn's work.

We should ask Robert if he can help us for a little bit. Its big and a little intimidating here. We don't want to get robbed.

We don't even know how this place works.

>>655367
Well at least we know better than to mess with our own code. And if the greathorn's leader tried to mess with our programing before sending us off I don't think they'd be good enough to do it without us noticing. So I think the Fake hunters aren't too bad a choice to stick with until we find a job.

"I suppose before glasses, do you know anyone that can use a Fake made to be nice and supportive? Maybe a hospital? Though anything will do for now, bartending seems kinda nice though... Oh and thank you for the ride~!"

>>655336
"Do... do you know where I could find a new pair of glasses?" You get a hand behind your nape. "I do feel kind of lost here, haha!"
They glance at each other, quizzically.
"I-I suppose before glasses, do you know anyone that can use a Fake made tobe nice and supportive?" They glance at each other. Again. Ok... "Maybe a hospital? Through anything will do for now, bartending seems kinda nice though... Oh and thank you for the ride!"
"No probs, but I can't help you there." Robert says. You sigh. It's... been going a ride lately. "It'll be easy, don't worry, the most expensive thing here is food. And you don't eat. Like,at all.
"I can eat." You point out, both figuratively and literally. "And taste."
"There's a lot to taste here. Very good food." It's Preah, a tasty smile fixed under her nose, as Robert slowly frowns as if a bad memory weighted on him. "I'll show you around. Can I? I like the Roomba."
Robert shrugs. "Don't get lost again."
You pout very very slightly.

--------------------------(=゜ω゜)-------------------------
"Ooooooh, this will do!"
You blink as the Arma points into a particular door. So far, what you've seen of the Second is just a set of endless aisles that split into various doors, much like the inside of the SU-BA, yet extremely more wide even if the ceiling is still just three of four heads from yours.
"Preah? Is all the Second like this?"
She shakes her head. "This is the middle ground. For transit, mostly. Up above is very nice, have you ever seen a tree?"
You tilt your head. "No?"
The door opens in front of you. And soon you are both walking in.

As you enter, you stumble upon a long row of people of all shapes and sizes you dared to imagine, all neatly organized one behind the other.
"This is where you get a job." Preah's voice kinda booms behind. "It might take a while, then you can rent something near your work-station and live like that."
As far as you know, actually reaching the Second is a luxury most cannot afford. You sigh the sigh of sadness... if this is how it's going to be, then, at least....
"HMH!!" you get startled. As you look up, a... hornmother? Is that a hornmother?- is looking at you, frowning.
"Oh we made it already" says Preah.
"Um, I came looking for a job.... I'm not very familiar with this system, I do apologize if I'm being slow."
...she sighs.
"Don't worry," she says, "I'm not leaving anytime soon, either!"
The hornmother hands you a small paper. You study it intently.

-Waitress
-Accountant
-Bartender
-Customer service
-Delivery
-Guard
-Engineer
-Maid

"I see, these are the job availables." You say after noticing a whole lot of other posts that have been crossed from the list. "Is there any specification about each one of them?"
"Just pick one." she says, bored.
...You can feel a certain turmoil behind your back.

>>655738
What's happening behind us!

And pick bartender, because maid is too isolating and the others are less suitable.

>>655738
Ask her if there are any jobs working as a personal assistant or secretary. Also ask her where she came from. All we've known about other Himehorns came from the Greathorn, and those horns are rather xenophobic.

>>655738
>Bartender
We Va-11 Hall-A now. Time to mix drinks and change lives!

We shouldn't keep the hornmother tied up asking personal questions. The people behind us have been waiting plenty and their feet actually get tired unlike ours. Of course, be sure to properly thank her after she helps us!

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>655859

"I'll take the bartender one."
"Really? You look more like a maid to me." she hands you a couple papers and a pencil, you sign and sign and sign. Then she gives you an envelope. "Adress, name of the place, everything."
"I feel like saying, you do seem different from the hornmothers at the greathorn."
She frowns slightly. "Because those are lazy fucks. Get moving."
"Thank you for your help!!" you drag your words as Preah gently pushes you forward. Soon, the both of you are back to the aisles. You open the enve-
"Wait." you turn at Preah. She's looking intently at the envelope. "There's a ritual for these things."
"Oh, why is that?" you tilt your head to the side, much like she does. Preah takes the envelope from you.
"Cuuuz, you could work here, or below... or above with the trees!" she shakes the envelope from side to side, eagerly. "What's it gonna be, what's it gonna be...!"
You giggle a bit at her... "Armaness." "Um, is it really that pretty above?"
"YUP"
"Oh, I see."
"The top of the Second is known as the First Floor." She stares at the envelope. "..."
She gives it to you. "You do it."
You blink a bit; then rip it open.

File: so exciting.gif (266 KB, 450x253)

266 KB GIF

>>655922

>>655922
Now lets see if 3 is the top floor or the bottom...

Roomba just looks like a maid because most people are lazy like the hornmother said and helping clean is one of the best ways to support them. But if we can help more people by listening to their problems then that will make us that much more happy~

Also maids are cute, and it never hurts to be cute.

>>655922
I'm assuming we would have wanted to roll low, right?

>>655922
"..."
Preah stares from over your shoulder straight into the envelope. As both turn to look at each other, your noses bump.
"...I should have opened it." Preah states, her nose still over yours.
You take a look into the envelope, again, reading it carefully as if trying to find some hidden clues.
"Is it, um... is it bad?"
She glances at you, then at the envelope.
Then siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhs....

------------------------(≧ω≦)-----------------------------------

The door closes behind you and Preah was right; It IS that bad. The bar you've been assigned to is called "The Whatever", and that certainly says much about the place. As you and Preah dodge drunkards and shady characters you stare into the ill-painted walls, the pornographic pictures on the wall, and finally straight into the knightly-shaped helmet of the tuxedo wearing figure behind the bar. It... "stares" at you.
"Hi, I'm Roomba. I came to work here." you present it card, it's soon taken from your hands. The wait gets long as the "knight" reads it.
"Welcome, then, Roomba!" he offers a plated, armored glove at you. That you shake up and down. "Come on in, get behind the bar."
"How much is she gonna work?" asks Preah from the other side, the knight fixes itself on her.
"Ten hours." you.... sigh, ever so subtly. "And that's not the right attitude, young lady! Life is wonderful for those who are useful." it's voice comes out all robotic and metallic, it must bounce inside the helmet before coming out. Preah grabs you both your shoulders from across the table, and it's kind of a wide table.
"I'll come by in ten hours then, wait for me! Have fun!" she manages to smile at you, but when she turns Preah storms out of the bar and actually drags one of the guys with her into the floor. He's still cursing long after she's gone. The knight turns to you.
"Time to get acquaintant, then. The good lads here know me as Bashjik, and so will you. Any experience making drinks and such?"
"I've been pre-programmed with-"
"Ah yes, the details. We shall test you right now, then." he points at a specific point under the bar, you stir things a bit until Bashjik nods. "And that would be your very own uniform."
...a black appron and cat ears.
"Wear it proudly, he states."
And just as that, he leaves thorugh the other end of the bar, you can see the kitchen and people from where you are. Not ten seconds after he left, a fat human with a big beard sits in front of you and smashes an empty glass of beer into the bar.
"You look very cute girl." he says.

>>656074
Thank you. What drink can I make for you?

How strong is Roomba?

>>656074
"You know, you've make me consider going back out into the ocean to fight rouge Fakes is a worthwhile occupation. Thank you for giving me this realization."

Yeah, no.

>>656095
She'd have a hard time wrestling down a 5 years old nohorn.

File: PANIC!!!.gif (2.92 MB, 580x328)

2.92 MB GIF

>>656106

>>656074
"Thank you, I've never been one for wearing black but the ears are rather adorable <3" Greetings aside gesture to his presently empty mug and ask "Would you like another round?"

We can do this guys, at least it's not a brothel right?... Right??

>>656164
"Thank you." You gift him a humble bow, he frowns his cheeks. "I've never been one for wearing black but the ears are rather adorable." You open your hand towards the empty mug, then tilt your head as you say. "Would you like another round?"
His eyes darth from the mug, to you, then to the mug, then to you. "Y' one of them Fake ladies, right?" You nod quickly a few times over. His mouth opens as his eyebrows frown slightly. "D' you guys have one of them PUSSAAYYS?"
You get your head back in place, then your eyes fix upward as you ponder about the subject in question. Then you shake your head, as quickly as you just nodded. He nods slowly, his mouth wide open.
"S yknow, I have this kid. Yknow? He a fool, drinkin all day an doin shit. But the draws! You should see the draws." His top half vanishes from the bar as he fumbles though what you asume might be a bag. He comes up with a big folder, and opens it over the bar, one of the corners going right into the soup of a shady looking haremhorn, who just mumbles and takes it away. You look at it, and your eyes widen slightly; It's ships. A lot o ships, with very well defined graphics. "Y'see? D' boy is good! Good, the fuck!" He looks around, proudly, as if everyone could see the pictures. "...he not drawin a lot lately, y'know, I'm tryna get some publicy for the guy. D'boy be sad. Says he doesnt want to anymore; says drawin is for pussies and that he wants to be a man. But Imma man and I neva did sometin as good as dis." His eyes fix on the Elogio, and or a while you can tell he completely forgets about you. "I to he like the drawin..."

>>656286
"Has he thought of applying to be a draftsman? I don't think anyone can say that designing new ships is something to be ashamed of. Having the dedication to become this good at drawing is proof that your son is a hard working man! You're a good father for encouraging him to continue~ <3"

>>656286
Tell your boy he can do both. He can be a man, but he can draw too. Men made art that lasted for centuries. Art inspired men to do great things. We need that inspiration now.

>>656286
Tell him he could draw lewd cartoons for men.
Also, good to know we are not a sexbot

File: Roooomba!.jpg (34 KB, 325x692)

34 KB JPG

>>656353
You "hmm" widely, to make it seem you are really giving it some tought. You are, actually. "Has he thought of applying to be a draftsman? I don't think anyone can say that designing new ships is somethingto be ashamed of. Having the dedication to become this good at drawing is proof that your son is a hard working man!"
"Naaah the boy be lazyn all day now, drinkin shit and idunno what else. He did the drawin, like, i dunno three years ago?" He stares back into the Elogio. You stare, too; it does have quite the resemblance. "dno what to do. Y' know? Myself, mma pieza shit, he too though but the drawin... the drawin be goin two shitte..."
"Why don't you tell him he can be both? Those ship were brought to life from these kind of designs. What could be "manlier" than that, right?"
"Idno, y' tell him..." he pauses for a while, then for a while longer. You struggle for a while, but manage to get a hand up his shoulder.
"You're a good father for encouraging him to continue. Even i he doesn't want to!" When the man looks up, he's greeted by... the silliest pose you could think of. He just stares for a while, his features moving slowly, as you struggle to keep up the silly pose and thank your maker for not adding to your design.
Then he laughs. Slow, but powerful, the sounds come out from his mouth.
"Waaaatchaa doooin!" he asks, still laughing. You blush, laughing as well; you have absolutely no idea. It's all been so hectic so lately, so sudden... maybe you just gave up, maybe you've chosen to ride this flow.

Maybe you just wanted to make him happy.

One way or the other, he laughs, you laugh, the haremhorn stares from the shadows and your boss comes to see what's going on.

And a year passes you by.

--------------------------------------------------------

File: nananananana.jpg (43 KB, 376x522)

43 KB JPG

Alright guys, threads over for tonight! I would have started running a lot earlier if I could, If it weren't because things happen and we can't stop that. Tomorrow we have Roomba, again, this time after a whole year of working as a bartender in a crappy bar and dealing with the emotional issues and messes of pretty much everyone else. I've still got some time to answer a few questions, so take a shot if you feel like. Happy horns!

>>656463
I'll assume this is it for the night, then?

See you around, HornPoster.

>>656506
Any chances we'll get to know any of the other Himehorns on here? I'm genuinely curious about what their beef with the Greathorn is.

Also, any chances we could start up a hotline eventually? While serving drinks is all right, I'd like to get back to helping people on an emergency hotline.

>>656506
Haha see you can have happy endings! Thanks for running!

>>656538
It's more an emergency plan than anything else! If all the himehorns were in the Greathorn, and the Greathorn blew up because a hornmother stabbed the core with a carrot or something then there would be no himehorns left, at all, anywhere. A hornmother lays one egg every day, so since himehorns have a reproduction rate as high as that there would be little problem in covering the losses in a short while,as long as they get a place to live on. Some of those hornmothers, however, are exiles that got very angry with the herd for one reason or the other, and got banished along a few haremhorns because otherwise they wouldn't be able to do anything on their own. Those haremhorns, of course, are mad at her, and ignore the hornmother for a while; but then their instinct kicks in and its very strong, and thus another herd is born.

As for the hotline, everything can happen in this quest. I have no directions, no plans, no asdasdasd; only a setting and a few events that would happen at a given time regardless of everything. So mostly, if you can think it over and find a way, it can happen.

>>656506
Thanks for running. Even with the sad earlier, this is still fun.

>>656463
>"and thank your maker for not adding /sweat/ to your design."
ASDHKJASHDJAK, typos whyyyyyy!!

>>656658
>Just self destruct already you are a failture at helping people.

>>656588
Then just kill Roomba then.

>>657085
>>657095
Now why would she do that? And betray broken horn leaders last wish that no horns and himehorns work together despite their differences? That would be rather lazy of us wouldn't it?

>>660353
But she isn't doing that. She is just working at a bar.

>>660482
We helped someone with trying to get his son's life back together in the first 10 minutes we spent on the job though. People treat bartenders almost like impromptu therapists, talking out their problems and getting a bit of advice. It's not pulling people out of sinking ships, but we don't have the resources for that (yet) so for now we'll make a quiet difference in this bar and work our way back up to our own support center (hopefully)

>>660934
Is pointless because the GM can just put an unwinnable boss fight on us at any moment.

Also this story doesn't star a himehorn or a suport center anymore.

>>661050
You need better GMs if that's your experience.

>>661050
That's true of any TTRPG. You have to trust the quest master to create an interesting story. And sometimes the quest wants away from the original idea, is better to let that happen than to have the QM force you into following their limited view of how the story should go. That's novel writing, not role playing.

>>661072
I was referring to this quest. Or you didn't read the past threads?>>661173
No it isn't. A GM usually doesn't put you in an unwinnable boss fight when you just started the quest.

>>663157
I don't think it was unwinnable. But committing White to our defence was considered to be too much of a risk. Leaving Roomba was the most likely way to survive, but what Leateli would have done in a fit of rage for being denied was also deemed to high a risk.

Not unwinnable, we just weren't willing to take the chance.

>>663206
Personally I figured that we could survive something like that, particularly with prompt care but i think we forgot to mention being stabbed in our final report. Hindsight is 20/20 though

>>663385
I'm thinking our mistake was not asking Roomba how she could survive and assuming that Laeteli would blow up the Greathorn in retaliation for Broken Horn Leader not being there.

At least that was my thought. And I wasn't willing to get someone else killed.

I was going with the belief that Broken Horn Leader knew there would be risks and if anything happened to the herd or threatened the Greathorn because of the support centre it was our fault, and therefore we had to be on the front line of whatever consequences there were.

>>663385
Yeah, we probably should have mentioned that, but I don't think it would have made much difference. Ado and Roomba probably came back as fast as possible.

I feel bad for Broken Horn Leader, but she was so sad and tired all the time.

Brokenhorn leader resurrection arc when?

>>663950
Never. We didn't froze the body.

And if there was a ghost haunting the Himehorn support center, we would have heard that by now.

Also if Roomba tries anything they will put a price on her head.

Honestly if I wanted something depressing I would just read Worm.